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View synonyms for negativism

negativism

[ neg-uh-ti-viz-uhm ]

noun

  1. a negative or pessimistic attitude.
  2. Psychology. a tendency to resist external commands, suggestions, or expectations, or internal stimuli, as hunger, by doing nothing or something contrary or unrelated to the stimulus.
  3. any system of negative philosophy, as agnosticism or skepticism.


negativism

/ ˈnɛɡətɪvˌɪzəm /

noun

  1. a tendency to be or a state of being unconstructively critical
  2. any sceptical or derisive system of thought
  3. psychiatry refusal to do what is expected or suggested or the tendency to do the opposite
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˌnegativˈistic, adjective
  • ˈnegativist, nounadjective
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Other Words From

  • nega·tiv·ist noun
  • nega·tiv·istic adjective
  • non·nega·tiv·ism noun
  • nonneg·a·tiv·istic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of negativism1

First recorded in 1815–25; negative + -ism
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Example Sentences

So we are stuck with him and must recognize even with all his hypocrisy and negativism toward Democratic policy he is better than a Republican.

“All he gets from Congress is negativism and carping,” says Dallek.

It is enough to make Agnewesque nattering nabobs of negativism proud.

Without it, the seeds of change and innovation will wither in a soil that is an arid mix of negativism and defeatism.

This is an admission that negativism is of the nature of resistance.

Negativism is a state of persistent compulsion to contrary response to suggestion.

The negativism and refusal to go to stool are the outcome of the nervous unrest, not its cause.

Fretfulness and negativism with all children whose management is at fault come in waves and cycles.

Thus the mother of the child in whom defæcation is inhibited by negativism may have made further observations.

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negative transfernegaton